You’re the Worst: OITNB’s Samira Wiley Joins Season Three of FXX Comedy

by Cindy McLennan, June 21, 2016

Lev Radin/Shutterstock.com.

Orange Is the New Blackveteran Samira Wiley will recur in the upcoming third season of the You’re the Worst TV show on FXX. A modern look at love and happiness from writer and EP Stephen Falk, You’re the Worst follows the relationship between Gretchen Cutler (Aya Cash) and Jimmy Shive-Overly (Chris Geere). You’re the Worst season three premieres Wednesday, August 31, 2016 at 10:00pm ET/PT.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Wiley has been cast as Justina, Gretchen’s therapist. The You’re the Worst TV series cast also includes Edgar Quintero as Desmin Borges, Jimmy”s formerly homeless roommate, and Kether Donohue as Lindsay Jillian, Gretchen’s best friend. Spoilers for Orange is the New Black, after the jump.

The [Justina] character will be featured prominently throughout the season as Justina helps Gretchen dip her toe into the waters of mental health, both in recovering from her recent depressive episode and dealing with new challenges. Justina has the unique ability to cut through Gretchen’s layers of crap and remain (mostly) unflappable, even when Gretchen is at her worst. Though she’s a great therapist, Justina isn’t exactly a paradigm of mental health — she’s very much trying to figure out her own life, including what to do about her unambitious boyfriend and thirsty need to Foursquare her every move.

“Samira is an incredibly talented, thoughtful and exciting actress. When I worked on Orange Is the New Black I got to write the episode with Poussey’s backstory, and we had such a good time that early on in writing this season of You’re the Worst I hit on the random thought of having Samira play Gretchen’s therapist,” Falk told THR. “It seemed like kind of a weird choice, given that she’s younger, and on another show, but once it came to mind, the idea of casting anyone else bummed me out. So I didn’t.”

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“It feels a little full circle or serendipitous that it’s happening in this way,” Wiley said of reuniting with Falk after he wrote Poussey’s backstory on Orange. “He’s a great guy and I’m so excited to be able to work for him. [The character is] totally different [from Poussey], which is everything I want to do now. Orange and Poussey have given me my life as an actor, and where I am in my career right now. But I am an actor at the end of the day and I want to make sure I can show the world different parts of myself. Poussey is not all that I am and as an actor, I want to be able to play roles that are wildly different from the last role that I’ve played. In terms of roles that I’m seeking now and movies that I’m doing, that’s the goal. To do things that are on the other end of the spectrum from Poussey.”

For You’re the Worst, Wiley’s casting continues the mental health storyline that Falk introduced in season two. The storyline was hailed as one of the most accurate depictions of clinical depression on the small screen.

This is Wiley’s first TV role since playing OITNB’s Poussey Washington during the show’s first four seasons on Netflix. The fourth season of Orange Is the New Black dropped to Netflix on June 17th. In “The Animals,” episode 4.12, Poussey is accidentally killed in an incident which begins as a peaceful protest.